Schenectady, N.Y. (June 25, 2003) – Union College Director of Athletics Val Belmonte announced on Wednesday the departure of Kevin Sneddon as head hockey coach at Union College. Sneddon, who has been on the coaching staff at Union for the past 10 years, serving the last five as the team's head coach, will be introduced as the new head hockey coach at the University of Vermont during a press conference in Burlington on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a wonderful and challenging career move for Kevin,” said Belmonte, “an opportunity that he has earned and worked hard to obtain.”
Reflecting on Kevin's career at Union Belmonte commented, “His (Kevin's) successes at Union should be measured not only by his team's improvement on the ice, but also by their outstanding achievements in the classroom and in the community. A wonderful representative of the College throughout his career, Kevin has been a revered and respected member of Union Athletics and he will be greatly missed.”
“Kevin leaves with the best wishes of all of us in the Union College community. We will continue to follow the progress of his bright and promising career, and all of us look forward to November 15 of this season when Kevin will return to Achilles Rink as the head coach of the Catamounts.”
In Sneddon's tenure as the head coach at Union, the Dutchmen posted an overall record of 50-99-18. The Dutchmen qualified for ECAC post-season play three times under Sneddon and earned home ice in 2002-03 playoffs for the first time in school history. Last season the Dutchmen finished in sixth place in the ECAC standings, their highest finish since 1996-97, and the highest under Sneddon's leadership. Sneddon has coached two ECAC All-Rookie team members and 14 of his players have earned ECAC All-Academic Team honors, eight earning the honor multiple times. With his teams participating in several community service projects, Sneddon's Dutchmen have raised thousands of dollars for various local charities, and Jeff Wilson, Union's captain in 2001-02, was the national runner-up for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.
“Kevin's move to UVM speaks well of the state of our program at Union College,” said Belmonte. “We have established a solid foundation of success and we are ready to take the program to the next level of competitive excellence.”
“With the ongoing renovations at Achilles Rink, a strong recruiting class and an opportunity to bring in a high-level coach, we are extremely excited by the future of men's ice hockey at Union College.”
Belmonte confirmed that a national search to replace Sneddon will begin immediately.
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Schenectady, N.Y. (June 18, 2003) – The Union College men's hockey program announced Wednesday the addition of seven freshmen and one transfer student to the 2003-04 squad. The three defensemen, four forwards, and one goaltender join veterans from the 02-03 team that finished in sixth place (10-10-2) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) standings.
Head Coach Kevin Sneddon made the initial announcement stating, “My assistant coaches, Andrew Will and Greg Klym, worked extremely hard to recruit another excellent class of student-athletes to Union College. This group of eight players will help us to improve upon our past performances while striving to bring Union Hockey to the next level.”
The Dutchmen graduated five seniors at last weekend's commencement ceremony, but return 22 players, including seven of the top-10 scorers from last season. They begin the season on October 11 at Niagara and host their first game on October 18 vs. Merrimack as part of Union's Homecoming festivities.
Defense
Joining Union's six veteran blueliners are the following rookies:
Jason Ortolano comes to Union from the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs. In 49 games played, the Carteret, New Jersey native tallied 18 goals and 20 assists with 76 penalty minutes.
Sean Streich will join the Dutchmen after skating with the Langley Hornets in 2002-03. Streich hails from Kimberley, British Columbia and registered five goals and 18 assists in 43 games last season and served 43 penalty minutes.
Adam Wood rounds out the rookie blueliners, spending last season with the Vaughan Vipers. From Toronto, Ontario, Wood played in 37 games last season and accumulated one goal and 11 assists with 91 penalty minutes.
Forward
Four forwards, including three freshmen and one transfer, will join Union's 14 returning forwards:
Olivier Bouchard, from Quebec City, Quebec, comes to Union from Upper Canada College. In 38 games last season, Bouchard tallied 32 goals and 52 assists, serving only 20 penalty minutes.
Ian Ross spent last season with the Capital District Selects. The Hibbing, Minnesota native played in 37 games in 2002-03 and registered 17 goals and 18 assists with 38 penalty minutes.
John Thiel comes to Schenectady from Waterloo, Ontario. With the Waterloo Siskins last season, Thiel scored 24 goals and 36 assists in 47 games, serving 94 penalty minutes
Brent Williams will also come to Union this season after skating at Iona College the past two seasons. From Prince George, British Columbia, he will be eligible at the start of the season and will join the junior class. In 35 games last season, Williams had 13 goals and 14 assists with 46 penalty minutes.
Goal
One goaltender will join Union's sophomore goaltending duo of Kris Mayotte and Tim Roth:
Dan Tatar from Queensbury, New York, joins the Dutchmen netminders after his last season with Loomis Chaffe. Tatar is a Western New England All-Star, appearing in 20 games with a 5.05 GAA and .893 save percentage.
Rebecca Bonelli's graduation cake, courtesy of her aunt, Deborah Bonelli
Rebecca Bonelli's aunt knew just what to get her for graduation: dessert.
So Deborah Bonelli set about creating a cake worthy of her niece's experience at Union: a masterpiece two-foot
high cake representing the Nott Memorial.
The cake, which reportedly took more than a week of painstaking work, captures the rare example of Victorian High Gothic architecture and all its quirky details.
When she left campus after graduation on June 15, Rebecca donated
the cake to Dining Services.
The confection has been the subject of lots of talk and
admiration around Dutch Hollow, where it is on display.
The next step, according to Jonelle Bayer, assistant manager
of dining services, is preserving the cake and finding a more permanent home,
perhaps in Admissions or the Alumni Center
in Abbe Hall.
Mary Ellen Burt
Basketball, 22-5
Named UCAA “Coach of the Year”
Union's student-athletes and coaches once again turned in a performance to be proud of during the recently concluded 2002-03 intercollegiate athletic season. The 25 Garnet teams combined for an overall record of 178-165-8, a winning percentage of .520. The Dutchmen and Dutchwomen combined for a record of 42-36-5 (.536) against Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association rivals. Individually, more than 75 student-athletes were recognized for their accomplishments in the classroom and on the fields of play, 60 of whom qualified for the UCAA's All-Academic team (which requires upperclassmen to maintain at least 3.2 cumulative grade point average).
The women's teams had an outstanding season, combining for an overall record of 115-77-2 (a winning percentage of .595).
On top of all that success, Union advanced its position in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) standings by moving from last year's finish of 60th to a program-record 57th place finish.
The Dutchwomen were represented at the NCAA's by the soccer, volleyball and softball teams while lacrosse won the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association championship for the second time in the last three seasons. Basketball earned its second trip to the ECAC postseason tournament in the last three years.
Peter Brown
Softball, 26-7
Named UCAA “Coach of the Year”
“I am extremely excited by the accomp- lishments of our women's programs this year, especially considering the young teams that these coaches were working with,”said Athletic Director Val Belmonte.
“We had two teams (volleyball and softball) qualify for their first NCAA tournament, women's soccer made it four straight years in the NCAAs and women's basketball posted the best record in the school's history. In addition, the women's lacrosse team won the New York State title. With the young talent that these teams have the future looks bright for all of these teams.”
Union had three of its student-athletes capture All-American awards. Sophomore Elliot Seguin (swimming), junior Sean Washington (indoor track), and senior Justin Sievert (outdoor track) each earned the national honor. Meanwhile, junior tennis star, Lauren Stellato, became the first Dutchwoman since 1983 to win the New York States No. 1 Singles Championship. Stellato, who finished at 19-3 this season, holds the program's all-time record at 56-11, all from the No. 1 position.
Bob Montana
101 Basketball Wins
“To be honored as an All-American is the highest level of recognition possible at the collegiate level,” Belmonte explained. “Justin Sievert, Sean Washington and Elliot Seguin should be extremely proud of what they accomplished this year. Their hard work and dedication to their sport, teammates and coaches was rewarded with this very special honor and they have set the bar high for future Union student-athletes to strive for.”
The efforts of Union's coaches did not go unnoticed by their peers as women's basketball coach Mary Ellen Burt and softball coach Peter Brown both were selected as the UCAA's “Coach of the Year” in their respective sports.
“What a great year,” said Belmonte. “Three NCAA teams, three All-Americans, our first state tennis champion in the last 20 years (from the No. 1 position), numerous all-conference award winners, two coaches of the year, the first Division I home playoff hockey series in the school's history…where do you start when telling the story of the 2002-2003 year of Union Athletics?”
Brian Speck
101 Soccer Wins
Women's soccer, which won both the UCAA regular-season title as well as the conference's postseason tournament, qualified for its fourth consecutive NCAA championship while volleyball, which went to the ECAC tournament for the first time last year, earned its first-ever trip to the national event. Softball, which won its only state title two
two years ago and finished third in the NYSWCAA event last season, also made its first trip to the NCAA event, advancing to the championship game of the Eastern Regional against top-seeded, and home standing, Cortland State. The tennis team set a program standard by finishing third in the state event.
Basketball (22-5 and winners of its first 15 games) set a Union record for wins in a season while softball (26-7) tied the program record first set in 1999. Volleyball was the college's other 20-game winner, posting a standard of 23-11, just missing the single-season record of 25 established in 2001. Hockey, in just its fourth season as a varsity sport, established a program record with its 11 wins while lacrosse (11-5) and soccer (14-5-1) also turned in double digit winning seasons. Meanwhile, the varsity 4+ crew team captured second place in the New York State championships.
John Audino
86 Football Wins
On the men's side of the ledger, basketball put together its fifth consecutive winning season for the first time in over 23 years. The Dutchmen (17-12) finished second in both the UCAA's regular-season and championship tournament despite losing four starters from last season's 21-8 team that qualified for the NCAA tournament. While missing out on the national party this year, the Dutchmen were invited to the ECAC event as they qualified for their fourth postseason tournament in the last five years.
The soccer team continued its resurgence as the Dutchmen put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1992 and 1993 season. The Garnet's 2002 record of 9-7-2 came on the heels of the 10-7 mark of the 2001 team. Union missed a chance to compete in the UCAA championship tournament when it suffered a 1-0 upset loss in the regular-season finale.
The swim team, meanwhile, finished 14th of 46 teams in the three-day NCAA meet by scoring 91 points. Union earned two All-American honors and came away with six honorable mention All-American awards. This marks the second consecutive year that the Dutchmen have improved their position at the NCAA meet. Last season Union finished 21st as the Dutchmen scored 45.6 points by capturing six honorable mention awards.
Sandy Collins
66 Volleyball Wins
The hockey team, meanwhile, finished sixth in the ECAC and hosted the first league playoff games in the Dutchmen's 12-year history at the Division I level.
Individually, 60 student-athletes were named to the UCAA All-Academic team by maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better (freshmen were not eligible). The men and women's hockey teams, which compete in the ECAC, combined to place 16 student-athletes on the All-Academic squad.
“Our coaches and student-athletes should take pride in the fact that so many of our “student-athletes” lived up to the expectations of that prestigious title,” said
Belmonte. “When you include All-UCAA and All-ECAC All-Academic selections, more than 75 of our student- athletes were honored, that is amazing considering the time commitment of playing competitive varsity sports and the academic challenges that face Union students each day.”
A total of 51 student-athletes were selected to the UCAA All-Conference teams with 27 of those athletes voted to the First Team. Highlighting those selections were:
senior lacrosse player Nina Mandel (who was the UCAA's co-Player of the Year)
senior Justin Sievert (MVP and event champion for both the indoor and outdoor track)
senior swimmer Ridgley Harrison (Swimmer of the Meet)
freshman basketball player John Cangianello (Rookie of the Year)
freshman basketball player Erika Eisenhut (Rookie of the Year)
softball pitcher/first base, freshman Abby Arceneaux (Rookie of the Year)
Several coaching milestones were reached this year as sixth-year softball coach Peter Brown picked up his 130th win. Meanwhile, men's basketball coach Bob Montana (who completed his seventh season) and women's soccer coach Brian Speck (who finished his eighth season) each posted their 101st career victory. Head football coach John Audino, who has been at the helm the last 11 years, tied the college record for coaching victories with his 86th win while volleyball head coach Sandy Collins, who has been at Union the last three years, surpassed 75 career wins and posted her 66th Union victory while leading the Dutchwomen to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time ever. Her Dutchwomen won 25 games in 2001 and 23 games last fall.
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) final standings (formerly the Sears Cup) saw Union finish in a tie for 57th place among the nation's 278 Division III institutions that scored at least one point. The finish was the College's best, improving upon last season's final placement of 60.
The NACDA's “Director's Cup” is a program which honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men's and women's. The program began in 1993-94 for Division I by NACDA and USA Today, and was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA.
Each institution is awarded points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women. The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division's NACDA “Directors' Cup” standings. The winner receives a Waterford crystal trophy.
Which Division III Sports Are Included?
Division III — 18, nine men's and nine women's
Team Sports Include–field hockey, football, women's and men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's and men's basketball, women's and men's ice hockey, baseball, women's and men's lacrosse, softball and women's and men's tennis.
Individual Sports Include–women's and men's cross country, women's and men's swimming, women's and men's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's wrestling, women's and men's golf and women's rowing.
An institution's finish in conference championships or ranking in national polls, with the exception of the I-A football poll (USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches' Poll), will not count toward the point tally in the NACDA Directors' Cup standings. All points are based on an institution's finish in the NCAA or NAIA championships.
Contributing to Union's success in the NACDA Cup race were the following teams:
Women's soccer, which earned 50 points by winning its opening game and finishing 17th in the country;
Women's volleyball, which earned 25 points by qualifying for the NCAA tournament and finishing 33rd in the country;
Men's swimming, which earned 61.5 points while capturing 14th place on the strength of Elliot Seguin's two All-American finishes and six other honorable mention finishes;
Men's indoor track, which picked up 31 points and placed 42nd nationally as Sean Washington finished 5th in the 55-meter dash Justin Sievert qualified for the shot put, and
Softball, which earned 64 points by finishing ninth in the country.
Justin Sievert's eighth-place finish in the discus gave the outdoor track team 66th place in the country, but he did not earn any Director's Cup points due to the track and field guidelines that allow either indoor OR outdoor results to be counted, using the highest score of the two. Because Union had Sean Washington and Sievert scoring points at the indoor meet, those points (31) were used.
As was the case last year, Union finished third among its Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association rivals (St. Lawrence and Hobart/William Smith finished ahead of Union in 2001-02). Hamilton (which ended 52nd with 255.5 points) and St. Lawrence (54th with 247.5 points) finished ahead of the Garnet this year. Hobart/William Smith was next (71st with 191 points), followed by Rochester (82nd with 172), Rensselaer (106th with 140), Skidmore (138th with 104) and Vassar (139th with 103 points). Clarkson did not have a team or student-athlete qualify for NCAA competition and was not listed.
Union, which ended the 2001-02 season in ninth place among its NESCAC rivals, placed seventh this year. Williams, which won its seventh Director's Cup in the last eight years, scored 1,158.25 points to top the 1,000-mark for the first time. Emory (GA) was a distant second with 779 points. Amherst placed 11th with 502.5 points followed by Middlebury (12th with 499.5 points), Tufts (28th with 321.5), Bowdoin (40th with 288), Bates (50th with 259.5), Trinity (56th with 239.5) and then Union. NESCAC teams finishing behind the Garnet were Colby (84th with 170.25), Connecticut College (128th with 113.5), and Wesleyan, which ended up in 164th place with 85 points.
The Dutchwomen and Dutchmen teams retained their sixth-place showing against neighboring New York colleges. Ithaca, which was second in 2001-02, was again the top-ranked program within the state as the Bombers finished this year in ninth place with 550.5 points. Cortland (15th with 481.5), NYU (30th with 311.5), Hamilton
and St. Lawrence ended the year above Union. Nazareth, which placed 66th with 222.5 points, was the next highest New York State college.
The end of the 2001-02 season saw Union 12th among New England teams, fourth among New Jersey colleges, and third among Pennsylvania schools. This year the Garnet finished 10th among its New England rivals, fourth against the New Jersey programs, and third among its neighbors from Pennsylvania.
“The Director's Cup is a great way to measure the success of the entire department versus the other Division III schools in the country,” Belmonte explained. “We are happy to be among the top 20% in this year's final standings, but we are not satisfied with our finish. All of our programs strive to be the best that they can be and our goal is to get to the point where we are among the top 20 in the Director's cup each year. With the student-athletes, coaches and commitment to excellence that we have I know this is a realistic goal for the very near future.”
